Occupational Radiation Exposure among the Staff of Departments of Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology in Kuwait

OBJECTIVES: To investigate radiation exposure among the staff of departments of nuclear medicine (NM) and diagnostic radiology (DR) during 2008 and 2009 and to compare the mean doses received with the limit of 20 mSv/year of the International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The whole-body dose or effective dose, i.e. Hp(10), and the skin dose, i.e. Hp(0.07), of the staff of departments of NM and DR in Kuwait for the period of 2008 and 2009 were taken from the national thermoluminescent dosimetry database. A total of 1,780 radiation workers, grouped as NM physicians, radiologists, NM technologists, and DR technologists, from 7 departments of NM and 12 departments of DR were included. The annual average Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) were calculated for each group and comparisons were made between the groups and the years. A two-sided Mann-Whitney test was carried out, at the p = 0.05 level, to compare the means. The mean Hp(10) was compared with the limits of the ICRP. RESULTS: Of the 16 distributions of Hp(10) and Hp(0.07), 10 were normal, with a mean annual Hp (10) in 2008 of 1.06, 1.03, 1.07, and 1.05 mSv for NM physicians, radiologists, NM technologists, and DR technologists, respectively. The corresponding Hp(0.07) values for 2008 were 1.03, 1.00, 1.05, and 1.03 mSv, respectively. Small but significant (p < 0.001) reductions in Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) were observed in 2009 for NM technologists and DR technologists. In all other cases, no significant (p > 0.072) differences were found. CONCLUSION: The annual average Hp(10) was well below the limit of the ICRP.